The event takes place May 31-June 1 in Davis Hall, North Campus.
It is free and open to the public, but registration
is required.

The symposium is dedicated to the late Erich Bloch, former
director of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and UB alumnus
who helped endow the new department. The conference will focus on
innovative strategies for research and education in the field of
materials and related sciences, with the overarching goal of
identifying accelerated solutions to address a broad range of
societal needs.

The event will honor Bloch’s legacy and embody the essence
of his philosophy that “… science is changing, the
tools of science are changing, and that requires different
approaches.”

Some of the most innovative thinkers in the country will be at
the symposium to push the boundaries of conventional paradigms, as
the meeting will explore some of today’s most pressing
societal problems. “Their presence is also a testament to our
department and our university,” says Krishna Rajan, the Erich
Bloch Endowed Chair of the Department of Materials Design and
Innovation.

The list of speakers includes:

Rita Colwell, distinguished professor at the University of
Maryland and at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public
Health; president and chairman of CosmosID Inc.; and the 11th
director of the NSF, who will speak on “Climate, Human
Health, Cholera and CosmosID.”

Neal Lane, senior fellow in science and technology policy at
the Baker Institute for Public Policy; Malcolm Gillis University
Professor of Physics and Astronomy at Rice University; former
director of the NSF; and former science adviser to President
Clinton, who will speak on “Giving the president advice on
science and technology – and why it’s getting
harder.”

C. Daniel Mote Jr., president of the National Academy of
Engineering, who will speak on the “NAE Global Scholars
Program.”

Gavin McIntyre, co-founder and chief scientist for Ecovative
Design, who will speak on “Design and Innovation for
Materials Science.”

Terry Sobolewski, senior vice president and chief customer
officer for National Grid, and Brian Storey of Toyota Research
Institute’s Accelerated Scientific Discovery Program and
professor of mechanical engineering at Olin College, also will
speak.

Each talk will be followed by panel discussions involving
leading experts representing many scientific disciplines in
explorations of the convergence of interdisciplinary perspectives
of materials science with grand societal challenges.

A new kind of department

“We are approaching materials science in the broadest
terms,” Rajan says. “We have a very ambitious agenda,
as we are exploring how innovation in materials science can lead to
major breakthroughs for the grand challenges facing society in
areas such as health, environment, policy and energy.”

There are many academic materials science departments, but
UB’s is unique in that it is “merging materials science
with information science to promote accelerated discovery for
accelerated impact,” he says.

That big-picture approach has involved creating a new graduate
curriculum unique among materials science academic programs, he
explains, and the hiring of “an exciting cadre of 17 new
faculty in less than two years. We are revolutionizing approaches
to teaching materials science as we develop new paradigms for
conducting research.”

The department was launched in 2015 with a $1.5 million donation
from Bloch, who became a high-ranking executive at IBM and is
credited with greatly expanding the capabilities of computers. He
was director of the NSF from 1984-90.

The new department started classes with six students last fall
and expects to have 25-30 students in its master’s/PhD
program in the coming academic year. A majority are expected to go
on to the PhD program. An undergraduate curriculum is also being
planned.

Rajan’s vision for the department reflects the changing
dynamics of engineering and education in general.

“It took nearly a century to lay the scientific
foundations to make steel. Well, we don’t have a century for
new discoveries to meet the ever rapidly changing challenges of
society. At the end of the day, we have to make things work based
on a rigorous but accelerated pace of scientific understanding, and
concurrently have a positive impact on solving grand challenge
problems quickly. MDI is putting into practice Erich Bloch’s
vision.”